History of Barotseland

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

1. 1.

   Claim: The Barotseland Agreement was signed on 18 May 1964 in London by Kenneth Kaunda, then Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia, and Sir Mwanawina Lewanika III, Litunga of Barotseland, on behalf of the Barotse Native Government and the Lozi people; it came into force on 24 October 1964, the day Northern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zambia, and provided for Barotseland's internal autonomy within the new unitary state.

   • Barotseland Agreement of 1964 (Chalo Chatu (Zambia online encyclopedia)) link, Signing and entry into force sections. Source record
2. 2.

   Claim: The Zambian government abrogated and cancelled the Barotseland Agreement through the Constitutional (Amendment) Act of October 1969, after which Barotseland was administered as an ordinary province of Zambia rather than retaining the autonomous status the 1964 Agreement had provided for; Barotse advocacy organisations, including the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE), have characterized this abrogation as a violation of the original agreement, a characterization this bundle presents as an attributed position, not independently adjudicated.

   • Barotseland Agreement of 1964 (Chalo Chatu (Zambia online encyclopedia)) link, Abrogation section. Source record
   • Barotseland (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)) link, Violation characterization section. Advocacy organisation perspective Source record
3. 3.

   Claim: Following the 1969 abrogation, several organisations emerged advocating for restoration of Barotseland's autonomy or, in some cases, outright independence, including the Barotse National Freedom Alliance (BNFA), Linyungandambo, and the Barotse National Council (BNC), alongside decades of diplomatic advocacy by the Barotse Royal Establishment to bodies including the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, and the United Nations. In 2011, presidential candidate Michael Sata promised to implement the 1964 Agreement within 90 days of taking office, a promise made during his successful election campaign.

   • Barotseland (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)) link, Restoration organisations and Sata pledge sections. Advocacy organisation perspective Source record
4. 4.

   Claim: In March 2012, the Barotse National Council, meeting in Mongu, resolved that Barotseland should consider itself "separated" from Zambia, citing the government's unilateral abrogation of the 1964 Agreement; protests calling for restoration of the Agreement have since been met by the Zambian government with measures including the arrest of hundreds of Barotse activists on charges including treason, matters this bundle does not narrate in incident-level detail.

   • Barotseland (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)) link, 2012 BNC resolution and subsequent measures section. Advocacy organisation perspective Source record